PC. Canadian population of 300 million.

We have to assume some handwaving but I think these would be the key for Canada (as we know it) to have a much higher population.

Control of the St. Lawrence River and Great Lakes (at the very least some portion of America on the south shore of lake Superior) would be an absolute must for a truly massive population. A much earlier St. Lawrence Seaway (easily doable with 1830's technology) would cause a huge population boom in Upper Canada and make it far more economically viable due to cheaper imports/exports. Secondly, you could start the transcontinental railroad a decade sooner and it would be vastly cheaper and get built faster if it didn't have to slog through northern Ontario. This means you could start settling the prairie a decade or so earlier which would have long reaching impacts on the Canadian population.

I still think 300 million is nigh impossible but this Canada could probably have 100 million without too many changes (assuming a long period of relative peace and friendly relations with the United States).
 
Assuming that we bump Canada's population up so dramatically, I wonder what some people think the country would look like economically, politically and/or culturally? Higher population means a cut in food exports as it is diverted from foreign markets. So, how does Canada's balance of trade look? OTOH, a larger population might support more domestic industry. Given that the preponderance of additional population will be urban dwelling, what cities/provinces are going to grow the most? How does this affect national and provincial politics? How does this support or hinder Canada as a larger player on the international scene?

Granted, much of this depends on when this population explosion begins to take place (1960's? 1920's? 1880's?), how (one helluva baby boom? Post war refugees? Immigration?) and how quickly (Decade? Generation? Century?) it happens. 300 million people in 2015 is one thing if it was based in immigration/birthrates spread over the whole of the 19th Century, another if it was concentrated in a few decades between the turn of the last century and the Depression, and yet another if it was all after WWII.
 
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